


Luka Del Moriay

by ashryvergrace



Series: If The World Knew... [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, POV Second Person, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-05-28 16:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19398379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashryvergrace/pseuds/ashryvergrace
Summary: Luka Del Moriay is new to the world of Vampires. New, young and a little naïve. And now that the vampires have to face a new threat, Luka must end it before it gains the power to end them all.





	1. File No. 184

Name: Luka Del Moriay  
Date of Birth: 19th April 1528  
Place of Birth: London, England  
Mother: Maria Del Moriay, Italian, born in Rome, Italy in 1511  
Father: Unknown, English aristocracy  
Physical appearance: Black hair, striking silver eyes, tanned skin, tall and scrawny.  
Additional notes: His lankiness is likely from lack of food due to living on the streets. He is an excellent pickpocket and thief, quick fingers and a light touch. He is fast and has good endurance.  
Date of transformation: 27th February 1547 (Age 18)


	2. London, 1547 - James Nottingham

I was old when I found you, a little boy foraging for scraps on the harsh, unforgiving streets of London. A child of wedlock born from a beautiful Italian woman who longed to keep you and a pompous Englishman who hated your existence. I noticed you for your quick fingers and quicker wit, your ability to charm people, using your position as the lowest of the low to gain pity or using your stunning looks to gain favour. Either way it resulted in money you could use to buy food the next time your stomach grew restless. You were a survivor and I needed that, so I kept tabs on you.

~~~~~~~~~~

Then you were a sick teenager dying of pneumonia, unable to afford a doctor, unable to afford the treatments they would offer - not that any of it would work. I couldn't let it go to waste; that quick intelligence, that survival instinct, you were so different from the others I'd turned before you. I came to you under the cover of the night where the darkness cloaked me, wreathed me in shadows. You were shaking, the fine layer of February snow which coated the ground might not have affected me, but you in your human skin with your ill-fitting clothes - a patched-together shirt and a pair of stolen, threadbare, too-big riding breeches - you were vulnerable, your lungs fighting for every breath. I told you I could give you everything you ever wanted, a warm home, your own clothes, a way to live. I told you I could help, that I didn't want anything but your company in return. You were...skeptical. And rightly so. In 1547 in London, no one gave anything away for free. There was always a catch. But you were so cold and so tired - of everything - that you didn't care. Delirium had set in when you murmured your agreement and I lifted you into my arms, carrying you back to my town house. Small compared to others but spacious enough, with three bedrooms and every comfort you could ever want. You passed out on one of the spare beds and I kept watch over you, making sure the fire was kept lit through the night. 

I wrote you a long letter for the morning, explaining everything. I figured you would either read it and run away or read it and want to stay, but either way, it would be your choice. But by the next evening, you hadn't woken and your condition had worsened. I knew what choice I had to make; Let you die human, or turn you and make you like me. My advisors warned against it, but I knew you could make it and so my blood entered your veins.

You were mostly unconscious for the transformation and I was glad of it. Your screams of agony would have meant inquiring questions from nosy widows who had nothing better to do with their time. Your fever broke after six days, the transformation finally complete. I was there when your fangs slid into place for the first time, you eyes lighting up red. You went out to hunt; I hid the bodies where they couldn't be traced to me. To us. We slept through the daylight hours, awaking the following evening. When I gave you the letter, you admitted you couldn't read. I sat with you, explaining everything. Somehow, you remained calm despite the knowledge I was giving you. Most people would have been screaming out the door. It didn't take much to alter records, a few coins in the right places and you could do anything. On record, you became my brother. Off record, things were not that different. I bought you the clothes you wanted and desperately needed. You were grateful, but you didn't thank me. You still seemed to think there was a cost.

We spent a few months in my town house, beginning various exercises to train you to become the perfect member of high society, teaching you how to blend in, how to appear normal. You slowly learned to read and I had the best tutor brought in to teach you your mother tongue. Italian was a useful language to know but I had never learned it myself. You learned broken bits and pieces of other languages too as did most new vampires. You never seemed fazed by our adapted diet - the humans, you told me, had never given you any mercy when your were one of them, so why should you show them mercy now. Your confidence grew.

When we moved out of the city to my country house, you met the members of the clan, vampires from all corners of England who came and went as they pleased. Each one saluted me as the Alpha of England's vampire population, but you didn't yet know what that meant. Politics, I decided, could wait. You rose quickly through the ranks, flourishing to become one of my most trusted Betas. You could be ruthless with the other clans, both wielding their minds and their weapons against them. You preferred words to all-out fighting, using your intelligence to find weak spots in order to blackmail or bribe certain people, but you were never afraid to get your hands dirty if it got the job done or to make a statement.

Of course, becoming so trusted so quickly had its drawbacks. You watched your own back vigilantly because you grew up in a world where no one else would watch your back if you didn't. You didn't trust easily either - it was because of this that I found two traitors who had been spilling information to other clans. They were...properly punished. It provided the perfect opportunity for you to begin another aspect of training, one which you certainly didn't hate as much as I did. Torture was never really my forte.


	3. The Emergency Summit of November 1547

You had only been a vampire for a few months when it was announced, a planet-wide emergency Alpha summit had been called for the middle two weeks of November and I, like every Alpha in charge of a country, was required to attend. I had only a few months to prepare and make my way to Rome. Since it was customary to bring a Beta or Second, I looked to you. Your reaction was of fear at first, to return to the land your mother had come from and to face the people who had cast her aside - it would not be easy. But you raised your chin and helped me get everything ready.

I left Katherine, my other Beta in charge of England's vampire population and we boarded the ship across the channel, landing in Calais about a month before the summit began. It would take us that long to travel almost a thousand miles from Calais to Rome. I paid for horses, a jet black one with a pearly white blaze on it's forehead and chest and a dark brown one with pale eyes. 

Our journey began, we travelled steadily, covering almost fifty miles in the first night. You were quiet, studying the scenery around you. The darkness didn't hinder us the way it would a human, but as the sun rose above the horizon, we agreed that it was time to rest for the day.

On the fourth night, we reached Paris and you were enamoured with the city. The colour which burst around you, the people who spoke in their strange language like little birds. You deemed it beautiful - if only because it was different from the streets of London - and begged me to stay for the rest of the night so you could take in the sights and sounds. I reluctantly agreed and we spent hours wandering around. We were perched on the roof of one of the Cathedrals when the sun rose. Even then, you lingered, watching the golden glow which spread over the city. We paid for a room for the day and slept well despite the small, cramped conditions of the room. We left the following night and I caught you casting longing glances over your shoulder as we kicked our horses into a brisk canter.

The rest of our ride down through France towards the city of Lyon where we left the horses. The pass through the alps was impassable to anything other than a vampire, the route steep and narrow, filled with jagged edges and sharp turns. We tied the few belongings we had brought with us to our backs and began the ascent. It was then that you asked me to tell you everything I could about the Summit, what would happen, who would be there, who to avoid, who to try and make friends with. Etiquette rules for both days of peaceful debate and violent argument. I educated you as much as I could, giving you the names and positions of the attendees, one alpha and one beta or second from every country with an established hierarchy, even some from countries which had not yet come to be. You learned quickly, remembering the details I gave you with ease. When we emerged from the pass and arrived in the city of Turin, you held your head high and a flicker of pride passed through me.

I paid for a couple of horses and we rode the four hundred miles to Rome in eight nights, sleeping through the day to avoid the sun. We arrived with days to spare before the summit began and you found a lodge where we booked out rooms for the two weeks. The woman running it was a large lady with a kindly face who almost fainted as I emptied a pouch full of gold and silver coins into her hand. You spoke to her in Italian while I unpacked our bags. I watched as you gained a sort of confidence and your tongue began adjusting to the familiar unfamiliar words. Your lessons had certainly improved your accent and you knew enough to make basic conversation.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Summit began. For every country - both in the world discovered by humans and the places which were unknown - an Alpha and his or her Beta was in attendance. Two weeks of maniacal, egotistical, borderline psychopathic vampires brutally 'discussing' the issues facing our species. Wonderful. I studied the huge cathedral carefully, listening to the slow, steady beat of your heart next to me. You glanced at me and I nodded once, flicking red eyes and fangs into place. You followed suit, took a deep breath and then entered next to me.

Whatever you had expected, it was evident that you were not expecting this. A pressing, ominous silence filled the air, vampires sat and stood around four coffins which were placed at the exact centre of the cathedral. If an emergency summit was called, the reason for the summit was always placed at the centre as a reminder. Which meant that whoever was in those four coffins, was the reason for the meeting. 

Vampires filed in for a good two hours before someone shut the doors and a fire-wielder lit the candles on the chandeliers as we sat down. A young-looking female stood and swallowed. "I am Isobel Borealis, Beta of Norway." We bowed our heads in acknowledgement. "I and others called this summit to deal with the issue facing us all. In the past year, three alphas and a beta from various countries have died." A murmur spread through the crowd. Vampires died all the time - killed by hunters or caught out by the sun - but those were mostly low-level sentries with very little power besides what every vampire had. For alphas to be killed, a hunter would have to work their way up a chain, potentially killing hundreds of vampires before reaching the Alpha themself. But this, this suggested that no others had been killed, only the intended targets. The thought didn't sit well. "It is unclear yet whether this plague of death is the result of a hunter or something darker. Once new Alphas have been elected and the old properly cremated, I hope we can solve this plague before death befalls us of all." And with those ominous opening words, the tone was set.

It only took a few hours to elect the new Alphas. From each country where the Alpha had died, all of their Betas and Seconds - the leaders of the counties and states - had come to the summit. From those, one was elected for each. The Beta who had died would be replaced by the new Alpha, either from the other Betas or from their clan, someone they already knew and trusted. The rest of the Betas returned to their country and the first night of the Summit was over. 

The following night, the discussions began. Debate was arduous and yet animated. You watched, fascinated by the conversation which zipped back and forth across the room faster than a human could possibly attempt to follow. Two brawls broke out over the first week, both of which you stayed well out of. Twelve vampires ended up with broken bones which were healed by the next day, another seven had various other injuries which all miraculously disappeared overnight. At the end of the first week, you were enamoured, delighted by the politics of it. I, on the other hand, hated the summits.

By the end of the second week, you were decidedly less happy. Decisions had been made and voted on. Traditionally, vampires gained power through age and training and practice. Every once in a while, a vampire would be asked to perform a trial to prove their worth and their ability. Only through these trials could a vampire progress up through the ranks of a clan. You were my beta, the beta for all of England, but I had been soft. I had chosen you not because you had earned the place at my side but because I knew you were loyal to the man who had saved your life all those months ago. I was not the only Alpha to have chosen a beta with my heart. So, to prove your worth and to save us from the threat facing us, you were asked to undergo a trial - to find whoever or whatever was killing the alphas and put an end to it. Like all trials, the deadline was set. The Alphas of the world wanted the body of the being by the next summit, by October 1550. That gave you and the two others who were yet to undergo trials just under three years to find and kill this threat.


	4. The Yule Ball

The weather had drawn in. At night, the city of London was blanketed in silence. Snow fell in masses and while the vampires enjoyed it, the humans seemed distraught to find it had all turned to sludge by the morning. Preparations for the Yule Ball were underway and as usual, I had almost no time to finalise the plans, to get the floral arrangements sorted and to decorate the cavernous ballroom of my mansion. 

Like the regional and national summits, vampires from all over England would be invited to spend the night dancing and drinking. Unlike the summits, there would be no brawls, no fighting, no political debate. After Samhain, Yuletide was perhaps the most anticipated night of the year, but it was not a night of masks and disguises, only vampires of all ages in their best finery. You and I went for the final fittings of our new suits while Katherine's dress was finished and boxed to be taken home.

As Alpha of England, responsibility for the preparations fell squarely on my shoulders, but the benefits far outweighed the costs. I would be the only vampire permitted to have my clothes made from the ceremonious ice blue and silver cloth, though I insisted that both my betas were given a strip of the fabric to incorporate, yours in the form of a sash and Katherine's in a panel of her dress. I would also be the one to crown the Yule King and Queen and place the silver Yule crowns on their heads. It was a tradition which dated back even to before I was a vampire and though no one seemed to know where it came from, we all continued to do it. The crowns would be worn by last years winners up until midnight when the new king and queen would be crowned. You said it seemed a little frivolous given the situation and for the first time in the long history of the Yule Ball, I had to agree. You brooded and I asked what was wrong. You waved me off and locked yourself in your chambers.

It was then that I first discovered your psychic ability. I had no abilities. You were one of the rare cases where you manifested an ability by yourself, without a sire giving you your power. Our sire bond was still unbroken and you had subconsciously linked our minds together. You managed to project your emotions and memories onto me and I understood your mood. 

_**24th December 1537** _

_"Mama. Mama?" A young boy pushed against a fragile looking young woman lying on the ground. The woman blinks slowly, her strength seeping away with every breath. Mid-twenties, long, tangled black hair in need of a wash, pale blue eyes which stood out starkly against her olive skin. The resemblance to the boy could only mean one thing; he was her son. He clambered onto her lap, huddling into her chest against the cold and the snow lying inches deep around them. Less than a mile away lay the River Thames, frozen solid, people laughing and skating on its' surface. Here, a woman lay dying, leaving her son alone in the world._

_"Sii forte mio figlio," the woman whispered, her strength fading._ Be strong my son. _Somewhere close by, a clock chimed midnight._

_"Mama, è Natale. Mama, it is Christmas." The boy turned to her, his hands touching her cheeks. Slowly, her eyes closed, her head rolling back. "Mama?" Tears rolled down the boy's cheeks as his arms slipped around her neck and he sobbed silently into her shoulder. He stayed with her until her body turned cold and strange men turned up to take her away. The boy begged them to let him stay with her, but they shoved him away roughly and he fell to the cobblestones. The horse-drawn cart bounced away down the road and the boy stared after it. Alone, he sobbed into her shawl, clinging to it ferociously, even when - only hours after she'd been taken away - the other street children tried to steal it away._

I swallowed as I watched the story of your mother's death play out in my head a thousand times. I understood why you hated the holiday. Christmas and Yule fell on the same night of the year, the year your mother died. It made sense. From then on, I vowed that I would never push you to attend the Yule Ball.

The night drew closer. The vampires of England began to arrive in groups or pairs or alone. I saw old friends for the first time in a year. When the night came, it kicked off better than any before it. The dances were either wild and fast paced enough to leave a vampire breathless or slow, barely moving at all. Midnight came and the new king and queen were crowned, Thomas and Rebecca, two of my sires from neighbouring towns. They danced their first dance and then I noticed a speck at the back of the ballroom. A stripe of silver blue cloth amongst the dancing figures. I moved towards you, standing by your side. 

"You came," I said quietly, barely loud enough to be heard over the music.

"It was a shame to waste the clothes." I smiled. "I'm not staying. I'll do one dance, but after that..." I nodded.

"Okay. Let's make a deal. Yule is my festival, the night I organise and I will never force you to attend, though I would hope you would come for the Beta dance. But Beltane, that is your night. Organise it how you will, but the first night in the month of May, it is yours. Deal?" You nodded and shook my hand.

"Deal. What is the Beta dance?"

"In most places, Alpha vampires have two Betas or Seconds, one male and one female. Traditionally, these Betas take the floor for one dance where the Alphas are not permitted to dance. It could be a jig or a waltz or whatever. If you would like, you can dance that dance and then retreat to your quarters." You nodded and smiled shyly. I wandered to the band and ordered the song for the Betas to dance to. You joined with Katherine and danced a beautiful waltz to the music, never setting a foot wrong. At the end, you bowed to her and she kissed your hand and then you climbed the grand staircase, giving me a wave before disappearing.

As the sun rose and the vampires filtered out to go home or to pre-arranged sleeping quarters, I smiled. It had been a success and I was happy with the deal we had made. Samhain belonged to all of us. The Yule ball was mine to arrange. Katherine had always organised the Midsummer celebration and now, Beltane was yours. When the new year began, you would head out in search of the thing responsible for the deaths of the alphas, but now, we stayed inside and watched the snow fall like stars.


End file.
